Slawburger Festival in Fayetteville, Tennessee
July 19, 2024 by Laura
We spent the majority of our day having fun at the Slawburger Festival in Fayetteville, Tennessee. There were numerous vendors, an eating contest, live music, delicious food trucks, and lots of slawburgers!
Fun at the Slawburger Festival
When we visit a new state during our 50 States by 50 Challenge, we like to include a small town festival to the mix. This allows us to see a different side of the state that we wouldn't normally catch in the big cities. The Slawburger Festival in Fayetteville worked out perfectly with our schedule. We were pretty excited to try the world famous slawburger for the first time!
If you are looking for more detailed Tennessee content check out our other travel blogs: Nashville Itinerary, Memphis Itinerary, Great Smoky Mountains National Park Itinerary, Tennessee Food Guide, 9 Day Tennessee Itinerary.
Slawburgers
The Slawburger was first created in 1923 on the downtown square of Fayetteville, Tennessee. Honey's Restaurant, which was still in operation when we visited, is the home of the original 'Pool Room Slawburger'. The great-grandfather of a man named Lee McAlister was the first to put the mustard-based slaw on top of burger patty.
The whole town is incredibly proud of their slawburger, and they should be! The burger is made up of an all-beef patty and the mustard slaw. The slaw is delicious and adds a sweetness and tanginess which compliments the burger and bun nicely. The mustard-base slaw was a nice change of pace for us Texans who are used to only mayonnaise- and vinegar-based slaws.
Unfortunately, we found out last week that Honey's Restaurant had closed after being in operation for 101 years. I feel very thankful that our timing lined up that we could eat at such a historical establishment before they closed. However, don't fret. You can also find slawburgers at Ken's Fast Foods and Market Street Grill which are also located in Fayetteville.
If you want to do one better, hit up Fayetteville during the slawburger festival! This festival has been happening since 2015. It occurs in April and runs from 10AM to 7PM. You will find many different booths serving slawburgers or you can go to a sit down restaurant and order up one there! Check the Slawburger Festival website to see when the festival is happening next!
Schedule of Events
If you are an active early bird, you can particpate in their Slawburger Chase 5k/10k. The kick-off welcome ceremony starts on 11AM and then the real fun begins (well it already began if you like to run!).
At noon, there was an ice cream contest, and at 12:30PM there was a Slaw Dog Contest where the pups dress up and participate in the dog show. At 1:30PM, the famous Slawburger Eating Competition began! A long row of contestants at a table set up to try to eat the most slawburgers. The crowd surrounds the table as the contestants chow down on slawburgers for ten whole minutes. I cannot remember how many the winner ate, but I do remember thinking 'wow, that's a lot of slawburgers'. If you feel up to the challenge, all you have to do is go to the Slawburger Festival website and register yourself!
Then from 2PM-6PM, there is live music playing from the stage. Next, to the stage there is a roped off area where you can grab a cold beer and just enjoy listening to the music play. There are also lots of vendors to stroll by, lots of food trucks to grab delicious food, and Fayetteville's historic downtown to visit. There are lots of fun small local shops and antique stores open that you can browse.
For dinner, we got loaded fries from a food truck named Volunteer Fry Co. which is based out of Waynesboro, Tennessee. We ordered the Tennessee Nacho and the Korean BBQ. They were both so good!
Fayetteville Airbnb
Fayetteville also has some Airbnbs right in downtown so you can stay right next to the festival. We stayed at one we booked on Airbnb called 'Give My All for Tennessee Downtown Loft'. It was this huge loft that had a kitchen, bathroom, long hallway, a Dolly Parton decorated bedroom, an Elvis Presley decorated bedroom, huge living area complete with a dining table, and a built-in bar. It overlooked downtown Fayetteville, and it was perfect for people watching while the slawburger festival was going on.
The Slawburger Festival was a lot of fun, and it was exciting to experience something new and unique to Tennessee. It is worth a stop if you want to try a delicious slawburger for yourself!
Find more information about this festival on slawburgerfestival.com.
50 States by 50
Tennessee was our fourth state for our 50 states by 50 challenge. My husband, Brian, and I are planning to visit all 50 states by the time we turn 50 years old. To choose which state we travel to next, we will draw it randomly!
For each state, we will plan at least a 4 day trip that consists of visiting the state capitol and state museum, exploring a state park, and eating whatever food that state is most known for. I will be documenting all of our travels here on my blog and making vlogs as well which will be posted on YouTube. Read more about our 50 States by 50 Bucket List.
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Thank you for reading about our time spent at the Slawburger Festival in Tennessee. If you have any questions or just want to share your Slawburger Festival experiences, please leave a comment down below.
Category: Tennessee
Keywords: tennessee festivals, slawburger festival tennessee, what is a slawburger, fayetteville slawburger festival
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Bon Voyage!
July 19, 2024 by Laura Ehlers
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